The Role of Religious Values: Young Christians’ Opinions towards Tattoos

Since the 1960s tattooing has become increasingly popular in mainstream American society (Rubin, 1988; Schildkrout, 2004). Explanations for this phenomenon include expressing individuality and gaining acceptance into a subculture (Blanchard, 1991; Gagne & Orend, 2009). Although research has demonstrated that spirituality can influence tattooing practices (Caplan, 2000; Swartz, 2006), few studies explore the intersection between Christian beliefs and tattoos (Scheinfeld, 2007). My research focused on the relationship between tattooing practices and the changing values of 18 to 30 year old active Christians in Greenville, NC. For this study, an active Christian was defined as a person who participates in his or her faith community at least three times per month. A class project during a previous semester facilitated the proposal development, including a literature review of tattoos and Christianity and the design of the data collection instrument, asking questions on personal faith, Bible verse interpretations, tattoo stereotypes, tattoo symbolism, and opinions about tattoos. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview instrument which asked open-ended questions, including free-listing tasks (Bernard, 2011; Brewer, 2002). To increase comparability, all informants were recruited from the same non-denominational Christian organization in Greenville, NC (Bernard, 2011). A quota sample was employed to reflect differences by gender and preference for tattoos (Bernard, 2011). Interviews were recorded and transcribed. The resulting text was coded using a grounded theory approach, logging discoveries about frequencies and co-occurrences of themes to establish similarities and differences between study participants (Bernard, 2011). A model of young Christian’s beliefs and values that suggests possible reasons for the choice for or against a tattoo was discussed.